30'', Front View. 
Front View II. 
Side View, on Carrier. 
Mirror Cell. 
Welding Detail. 
Close-Up of Base. 
Rear View, on Carrier. 
Rear View, Sans Truss. 
Strap, for Balance. 
Components, in Trailer. 
Me, with The 30''. 
Partially Assembled. 
View Through where the Eyepiece Would Go. 
Optical Design, Drawing Made with Atmos 7.3 Freeware. The Thirty Inch Telescope Project
I conceived the idea of the thirty inch telescope in 2003. I wanted a very large scope that I could use to look for transient events, such as Gamma-Ray Burst afterglows. I found a very good deal on optics --too good to be true-- and I traveled to the optician's shop, in order for him to help me build the structure.
After a couple of years, it was self evident that I had been cheated. No optics would be coming. After a lawsuit, filed by other disgruntled customers, proved fruitless, I attempted to buy a couple of 30'' mirror blanks, that the bank had seized. They were both broken by UPS. So the 30'' remains as it was in 2005. I don't have the money to buy new 30'' optics and I have given up on the project.
This scope was designed for an f/4.25 mirror, with a 10'', folding flat. The mirror cell was hastily constructed, so I think that it needs replacing. Also, I think that the structure could use some bearings running on the outer sides of the altitude arcs. The edges that run on the existing altitude bearings are not 100% even. This makes the telescope want to wander from side to side, as it is moved in altitude. Also, the front bracing for the altitude arcs is somewhat skewed, with respect to the main mirror box. So the arcs look like they are on incongruously. In fact, they are parallel with respect to the mirror box, to within the precision with which I could measure them, about 1/16''. They are also parallel to each other, to within 1/32''. I don't believe that the skewed front bracing will have any effect on the stability of the telescope, only an aesthetic one.
Other than these few problems, it is a VERY sturdy structure, that would work well in an amateur observatory. Plus, it is movable, with a 5X8 trailer. So It can be taken to a dark-sky site.